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Can I make my Thanksgiving Turkey a day ahead and reheat?

I am serving Thanksgiving Dinner for 12 guests, as I have over the last 10 years or so. This year will be different, as our youngest son is on the varsity football team, and we will all go to the big rival game early Thanksgiving Day. I was wondering if i could roast my turkey ahead of time and just reheat it when we come back from the game, without running the risk of the turkey drying out. Any ideas???

12 Comments:

Yes, you can do this. What I would recommend is that you roast it, cool it, and then slice it. To reheat place it into a casserole or roasting pan with some stock, covered tightly. This will allow the meat to absorb additional moisture, while heating it through.

I do this a lot to reheat leftovers, adds additional flavor, in some cases tenderness, and does not dry out the meat.

Alan

I have dreamed of doing this but I always wonder if you can tell the difference.

Yes, you most certainly can. I always prefer the turkey the next day better than the turkey on the day itself, personally. I agree with aholsber, don't try to reheat the turkey whole as you'd certainly have parts that dried out before all of it was hot again.

I've used this method several times with great success. It is especially handy if serving off-site, where space/time might be an issue with hauling/cooking/carving a whole bird. If a chafing dish is necessary to keep warm, the hot stock also allows the sliced meat to hold better without drying out.

It also saves me lots of time and space the day of. Once the turkey's done the day before, it frees up an oven, and sliced meat is easier to store in the fridge than a whole bird.

Of course, you lose the ceremony of presenting and carving the turkey, but our family doesn't care; just give us the meat!

I always roast it a day ahead and slice it cold. When I do serve it, I put hot stuffing in the middle of a large platter and surround it with beautiful turkey slices with some gravy on top. I serve the remaining gravy in a gravy boat. Forget the Norman Rockwell painting. This is the easiest way to serve turkey.

I say no for me personally. It will be drier. My crowd loves to sit around and hack at a carcass. My mother did try it once. We decided it was not what we like.
To find out if you like it try it.

You might consider frying the bird "on the day". It takes much less time, is realy juciey and flavorful. If you have the other dishes ready, it shouldnt take much longer than the reheating.

PS make the gravey beforhand with stock and/or some turkey parts.
Maureen

Ooops - same comment with spell check for my fat fingers --- LOL

You might consider frying the bird "on the day". It takes much less time, is really juicy and flavorful. If you have the other dishes ready, it shouldn’t take much longer than the reheating.
PS make the gravy beforehand with stock and/or some turkey parts.
Maureen

Sorry, but no. I'm saying no to the whole reheating thing - it's fine for leftovers, but not for the main event.

I've had good success with a brined and bbq'ed bird that was carved and refrigerated with stock/pan juices as noted above. The brining is important, I think, to making it moist. It also seems to help it, along with the pan juices, to remaining moist the next day.

Thanks Alan I have already precooked my dressing,greenbean casserole,
and mashed potatoes I let them cool 2 hours and put them in the frig. I
refuse to cook when everyone else in watching the parades! Ive done 13
Thanksgivings enough is enough!!! I still dont know if I want to pre cook a
bird though.

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